Linda Cardellini To Guest Star On New Girl As Jess' Sister

Fans of ER and Freaks and Geeks should have no trouble recognizing the face of one of New Girl’s upcoming guest stars. Linda Cardellini has signed on to play the recurring role of Jess’ sister Abby in the beloved Fox comedy. Not much about her character has been revealed, apart from the fact that she’s the lead character’s sister, and that she’s described as a “wild child.”

TVline posted the news, stating that we should expect to see Cardellini in February. New Girl is currently amidst its third season and as of late November, on hiatus until Midseason, when it will return for its next new episode in January. 2014 will be a big year for New Girl, as it will air a special episode after the Super Bowl, which just so happens to be in February. However, TVLine makes no mention of the Super Bowl in their news about Cardellini, so it might be safe to assume the post-game episode won’t be her first appearance. (Prince, on the other hand, will be appearing in the post-Super Bowl episode — via E! Online).

Looking at Cardellini’s casting, I’m flashing back to Friends, as Jennifer Aniston’s character Rachel’s sisters were both played by well known guest stars. Not only were Reese Witherspoon and Christina Applegate well known actors cast to play the sister of a popular comedy’s lead character, but their characters were both kind of nuisances. Applegate’s Amy was flightily and self-absorbed, and Witherspoon’s Jill tried to date Ross. Given that Cardellini’s New Girl character is described as a “wild-child,” I’m curious to see if she’ll interfere in Jess’s life in some troublesome way, similarly to the way Rachel Green’s sisters did in Friends.

Whatever her character gets up to, I’m sure Cardellini’s up to the challenge. She has some notable credits under her belt, including ER and Freaks and Geeks, as mentioned, as well as a recent run on Mad Men, playing Don Draper’s latest mistress, Sylvia Rosen. When she isn’t keeping busy on screen, Cardellini’s also doing voice work, with voice credits that include Gravity Falls, Out There and Nickelodeon’s Sanjay and Craig.

New Girl stars Zooey Deschanel and started out centering on a woman who discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her, which leads her to seek new residency and results in her moving into a loft full of guys. The series has since evolved into an ensemble comedy about a group of friends, some of whom live together, as they deal with their various personal, romantic and professional entanglements. If you want to get caught up on the comedy, you can catch the first two seasons of the comedy on Netflix. New Girl returns for the second half of its third season on Fox on January 7.